The present invention relates to wire retaining walls for earthen formations and, more particularly, is directed to such a wall which employs wire anchoring members and may be provided with a concrete face which is formed in place and forms an integral part of the wall.
One way of providing inexpensive retaining walls has been through the use of "gabions". Gabions are basket-like structures which can be filled with rock to provide permeable retaining walls. Early gabions were woven from plant fiber and not very durable. More recent gabions are fabricated of wire mesh.
Other recent efforts at providing wire retaining walls are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,686 to William K. Hilfiker, one of he coinventors herein, and French Pat. No. 7,507,114 to Henry Vidal. These patents employ tray-like elements fabricated of a wire gridwork wherein one side of the tray-like element serves as the anchoring member and the other side serves as the face member. As compared to gabions, the structures of these patents are of a simplified construction in that the wire members are of relatively simple open configuration and do not need to form a basket capable of fully enclosing a rock filler. Another advantage of the structures of these patents, as compared to gabions, is that the anchoring members provided by the tray-like elements serve to secure the retaining walls against displacement, in much the same way that "dead men" have been used to secure retaining walls. The anchoring member also reinforces the soil used for the back fill providing a composite reinforced soil system.